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observes the inner contradictions of copycats and haters with a smirk: These bitches tryna bleed me!
Girl in the Half Pearlfeels like an expansion of your artistry, your singing voice, and your writing.
Im curious how you accomplished all that at the same time.Man, I dont know.
Im in that zone.
I let shit work through me.
Its not really something I can keep track of.
When did you start working on the music?Last year and a little bit of the year before.
Mainly last year, though.
I feel like that shit was just a blur.
It was definitely an ongoing thing.
Thats what happens when you have a lot to say and you feel called to share it.
Afterward you look back like,Who was that?
That person had a lot going on.
I feel disconnected.This is probably the first time I havent felt completely disconnected afterward.
Like,Okay, fuck.
Yeah, that was a lot.
Im kind of listening back and thinking about the difference between then and now.
Talk about your thought process during writing.Damn.
Im so glad you got that from that shit.
I could agree to that.
Im becoming more aware of shit.
Honestly, I was writing before I did shrooms and psychedelics and acid and shit.
The first time was so gorgeous.
I was with one of my closest friends from high school.
She lives in New York, and I was in her apartment.
I had a second trip that was back in my crib in Chicago, and it was hella ratchet.
It was the worst trip ever.
I feel like that humbled me forever.
When I first did shrooms, it felt like I was everything and nothing.
After the first time, I thought,Oh, so everything is one.
Do you find that it helps with music?
I feel like a lot of people dont really consider all the planes that things exist on.
I feel like that shit just kind of opened me up.
Is writing like that, too?Writing is damn near that, yeah.
Im trying to exercise my pen a little differently right now.
I say what I feel, and I keep it pure.
I started writing when I was younger.
I would just pop in out really long stories.
Theres a line you had in the song A Slumber Party?!
Happiness dont always come with bliss that really knocked me over.
Youre asking serious questions and juggling different sounds in there.
Theres a mix of beauty and danger,harsh noises bouncing off pretty vocalsandvice versa.
Thats just how Ive always been.
My favorite character was Raven fromTeen Titans.
We emo over here.
That shit was cool.
Maybe I had ADHD real bad, and people dont go diagnosing themselves.
I really feel like theres an instrument for everyone.There is.
I picked up tuba in junior high school.
Thats the thing I was good at for about a year or two.
I was second chair.
I used to have a go at make beats on Reason.
I didnt know how to do any of that shit.
So I thought Id just learn an instrument.
For some reason … specific people be having to teach me shit like that.
Music finds a way to pull you back in.Its so funny I was definitely avoiding that shit.
Im already good at this shit.
I want a challenge.
Talk about meeting Erykah Badu and what youve learned from her.Thats my G. Thats big sis, for real.
Its just regular, you feel me?
My brother was her drummer at one point, and it was hella cool.
She was hella cool, and its just been cool since.
Shes always been an influence.
We talk here and there.
Do people compare you to the Soulquarians a lot?Not as much anymore.
Im open to understanding that people need a reference for things.
I cant even lie.
I guess if thats what helps you, Im there.
Thats true from track to track on this album.
The riff at the start of the song Gardetto.
sort of brings to mind John Coltranes A Love Supreme.
Was that on purpose?You know whats funny?
I put that on my mama.
Originally, I was just like,This sounds fine, and I love the way it sits.
I feel like classic tones and melodies are always out there waiting to be discovered.
Its a blast fooling around and stumbling into legendary sounds like,Thats how they did it!Exactly.
I feel like thats why it be so hard for me sometimes to listen to newer stuff.
Theres just so much music in the world thats just untouched from every decade.
Theres just so many other things to be inspired by right now.
What have you been listening to lately?Ive been revisiting Janet JacksonsTheVelvet Rope.
I feel like thats where America is at right now.
America is doing some weird shit at a rapid pace, and we all know.
So its like,All right, I guess we up.
That shift happened really quickly last year.
Even Drake showed up.I cant lie I have been listening to that Drake house album.
[Sings Falling Back.]
I love being in my fee-fees with Drake.
I feel it, bro.
I wanted to make an album that made me feel like Im on drugs.
I can go to the club on shrooms and listen to this album with headphones.
The club on shrooms sounds terrifying.It does.
I wanted the music to feel like molly or ecstasy or something.
That shit is high-inducing.
We gotta chill.
We gotta really tap in with ourselves, bro.
We all need to take time to ourselves and figure out who the fuck we are.
I just feel like a sense of community is lost because everybodys so focused on monogamous relationships.
Not to say Polygamy is it now.
I want to have a community and not be focused on one person.
Community lasts so much longer.
Who you going to after you break up with that motherfucker?
You know what Im saying?
People dont check in with themselves enough.
Everything has to change.
And its cool because you’ve got the option to do anything.
Lets get back into bartering.
We up right now.
Musics going to be cool again.
I want to be rooted in the past but always getting to the next level.
Being mindful of the past but also light on your feet for when things change is the whole game.
I have nephews and nieces, and they can tell me about shit thats going on.
Seeing the advances is crazy.
I can only imagine how my grandparents would feel if they were alive right now.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed Liv.e being from Houston.
